Mike's Alpine White 1991 318is

[Tzantushka]

Very nice.
I never get tired of your pics - keep em coming!

[mike.bmw]

But wait, there's more!

I got to drive Mike's (another one) s54-swapped E30 M3. He and his co-driver, Neil Simon, recently won the Vintage Class at One Lap of America in this car. It's a hoot to drive and puts down almost exactly three times the power of my 318is.

DSC_0649-2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0575-2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0589-Edit by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0465 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Hello! Time for my monthly check in.

I went to The Vintage from May 19th to 22nd (my second time). I took my daughter this year. We had a blast and I couldn't be happier that she enjoyed the tip. Over 1,500 miles in four days and the 318is was fantastic. The A/C could blow a little colder, but other than that I have no complaints. I wrote a piece for BMW Classic CCA's The Ultimate Classic about our father-daughter road trip, which will come out in their next issue.

I'm also very excited to be joining the BMW CCA's BimmerLife online team. More to come on my role there, but I'll be contributing lots of content.

DSC_0093 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Here's something E30 related that I published this week - Ashley Wrigley's E30 Touring Stars at The Vintage: https://bimmerlife.com/2022/05/31/as...t-the-vintage/

And another story about a special visit to BMW North America's newest Vehicle Distribution Center: https://bimmerlife.com/2022/05/24/bm...-center-visit/

Enough about that, onto photos from The Vintage!

Caravanning from Virginia to Asheville, NC:
DSC_0015 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0070 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0145-Edit-2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

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Spotting cars en route. Yes, it's real.
DSC_0027 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

BMW CCA Foundation's The Ultimate Driving Museum. The Power of M exhibit! See my preview of the exhibit in the current issue of The Ultimate Classic.
DSC_0142 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

BMW Zentrum (I brought a tripod just for this!):
DSC_0340 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Caravan to The Vintage. We drove The Rattler. Awesome road!
DSC_0074 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Avery putting in work:
DSC_0080 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

E9s:
DSC_0230 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Ducks:
DSC_0375 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Beauty:
DSC_0345 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

First and last US VIN'd E30 M3s:
DSC_0318 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I'm leaving a lot out, but it's an awesome event. We were busy sun up to sun down. Next year I may take both my daughter and son!

[Reichart12]

Your photos are always killer. I'm always impressed by how many different photo locations you find to take your e30 to.

[mike.bmw]

Photos... I've been taking a lot of photos lately. Check out my instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mike.bevels/

I especially like panning shots. I take hundreds of these every weekend. Getting the shutter speed as low as possible while keeping the car crisp is a fun challenge.

DSC_1244 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_1155 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

And of course I still find time to take photos of my E30.

DSC_0033-Edit by mike.bevels, on Flickr

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DSC_0063-5 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

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And I've been covering some local events which has been fun as well.

DSC_0207 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

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DSC_0324 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

One more thing! Check out the latest issue of der Bayerische - I took the cover shot for this issue. https://www.nxtbook.com/mercury/derB...2022/index.php

[mike.bmw]

A little Vintage prep, I guess...

I decided to order some Akebono EUR493 front brake pads and new Zimmerman rotors. I had been running a set of stock Textar pads and Zimmerman rotors for the last few years. Multiple sets in fact (because track days). The dust was out of control for street driving. I had also developed a little front-end shimmy when braking, likely from uneven pad deposits from previous track days. Re-bedding the pads didn't fix this issue and the blank Zimmerman rotors are cheap, so I just replaced them.

These are the same Akebono compound that is on my F31 with M Sport brakes. Pedal feel is good, initial bite is good, and stopping distance is decent. It takes a little longer to stop and a little more pressure than with the stock Textar pads, but totally worth it for NO DUST. I put a bunch of miles on my car over the weekend and there was NO DUST on my wheels.

My son, Carter, helped me out with this (he's turning 5 soon). I had applied anti seize on everything the last time I did this job, so everything came apart very easily. Start to finish it took less than an hour, including cleaning the barrels of the front wheels.

2022-05-02_08-02-47 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20220429_203056818 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20220429_211159954 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20220429_204216005 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

I saw some of these photos earlier and they are fantastic! Wish I’d known about this; I’m down in Richmond and would have loved to join. Next year!

Keep an eye out for next year! It'll be end of May or early April depending on when the trees bloom. We'll have a formal registration process/website next year as well.

Man, that looked like a great event with great scenery! Id rock the event if wasn't in pieces.

It was a lot of fun! Thanks! 17 days until I travel to Asheville for the Vintage!

[moatilliatta]

Man, that looked like a great event with great scenery! Id rock the event if wasn't in pieces.

[blalor]

I saw some of these photos earlier and they are fantastic! Wish I’d known about this; I’m down in Richmond and would have loved to join. Next year!

[mike.bmw]

Well, the 2022 Cherry Blossom Run was a success. Another E30 owner, Jorge, and I planned the event in less than a couple of weeks. We had 30 E30s, a bunch of other classic BMWs, and over 60 BMWs in total. Quite a step up from only nine cars the first year (2021). My article in Roundel magazine really piqued some interest for another event in 2022.

E30Mob (look them up on IG and FB) came from North Jersey, which was awesome. Others came from out of state and stayed in hotels. It was great meeting so many new people and catching up with friends.

We started before sunrise in Tysons Corner, VA. We cruised into Washington DC by sunrise. We drove around the Tidal Basin, lined with cherry blossom trees, which were in peak bloom. After staging the cars for photos, we headed to Urbano restaurant at Mosaic District in Fairfax, VA. Urbano opened just for us and even had a special menu. Mosaic District closed the main street just for us to have a car show. It was an incredible morning! Thanks so much to everyone that attended.

I've posted a bunch of photos on Instagram, but here are a few that summarize the event well. Stay tuned for a full article coming out later this year. Already looking forward to the 2023 Cherry Blossom Run!

DSC_0281 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0306 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0312 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

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DSC_0715 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Hopefully in two days I'll be posting about what a huge success the 2022 Cherry Blossom Run was. In the meantime - shots from today's dry run.

DSC_0351-2 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0307 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0390 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0295-Edit by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0399 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

DSC_0281 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Since I'll be driving 8 hours and 500 miles to The Vintage with my daughter this year, I figured it was time to give her more leg room. My previous fire extinguisher bracket wouldn't let the seat slide forward very much, so I ordered the garagistic mount. I had to drill an extra hole for my current extinguisher mount to work.

Old mount:
PXL_20220315_220715858 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Old vs new (see how much longer the new mount is (and I can also mount it under the sliders):
PXL_20220315_221100865 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

PXL_20220315_221356793 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Bracket bolted to mount:
PXL_20220316_011637702 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Seat moved all the way forward with old mount:
PXL_20220315_220700067 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

Seat moved all the way forward with the new mount:
PXL_20220316_021240246 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

I also picked up some nylock nuts and grade 8.8 hardware:
PXL_20220316_011646419 by mike.bevels, on Flickr

[mike.bmw]

Do you use a tripod on a timer for SelfE30's?

Yep, exactly!

looking spiffy af with that ride. brilliant execution and shots

Thank you!

[s-thetikz]

looking spiffy af with that ride. brilliant execution and shots

[moatilliatta]

Do you use a tripod on a timer for SelfE30's?